A commentary on the case of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, convicted of the murder of 270 people in the Pan Am 103 disaster.

Tuesday, 5 April 2016

Lockerbie suspects head for trial

[This is the headline over a report published on the BBC News website on this date in 1999. It reads as follows:]

The two men suspected of the Lockerbie airline bombing more than 10 years ago have arrived in the Netherlands to face trial.

As a result the UN Security Council has suspended sanctions against Libya.

The men were finally handed over into the custody of United Nations officials at Tripoli airport on Monday morning.

During the handover ceremony, suspected bomber Abdel Baset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi told Libyan television that he and his co-accused, Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah, were going to prove their innocence to the world.

The two men gestured with victory signs as they boarded the plane bound for the Netherlands, escorted by the UN's chief legal adviser, Hans Corell.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has welcomed the surrender of the suspects.

"I am looking forward to the earliest possible resumption of Libya's relations with the rest of the international community," Mr Annan told a news conference in New York.

The UN imposed sanctions on Libya for its refusal to surrender the two men.

United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Robin Cook described the handover of the suspects as "an historic moment".

"It is the end of a 10-year diplomatic stalemate, and it justifies the initiative we launched last year for a trial in a third country."

The two suspects are expected to be tried before Scottish judges, in a specially-convened court at the Camp Zeist airbase near Utrecht.

Pan Am flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie in 1988, and a large piece of the fuselage fell onto the Scottish town.

The crash killed 259 people on board the plane, and another 11 on the ground.

The handover of the two men is the culmination of a decade of diplomatic efforts to find a solution which would satisfy the governments of Libya, the UK and the United States.

Western governments and the families of those killed in the bombing have maintained that a Libyan trial would not ensure a fair hearing.

Tripoli did not want the suspects to be sent to the UK.

Setting up a temporary Scottish court on the soil of a third country was put forward as a compromise solution.

The deal was eventually clinched with the intervention of leaders from South Africa, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Jane Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the bombing, said she was "very relieved" at the news of the handover.

"Obviously nothing can bring back the precious people that we have lost and that still hurts," Mrs Swire said.

"At least this is a good message for the world. People who are accused of wicked crimes like this are brought to justice."

The trial arrangements are said to be unprecedented in legal history, since they involve the establishment of a temporary court under the jurisdiction of one country, within the borders of another country.

After the suspects arrive in the Netherlands, they will have to be extradited from Dutch to Scottish custody, and the Zeist airbase has temporarily been declared Scottish territory.

The suspects must face a preliminary hearing within two days.

The trial should begin within 110 days, but given the complexities of the case, the defence is bound to request a postponement meaning the trial may not start for many months.

3 comments:

A team of Scottish policemen, headed by a Chief Inspector, called Stuart Johnstone, is investigating the conduct of the entire Lockerbie case. Their investigation has been going on for three years. They are due to hand in a report late spring or early summer this year. It is quite possible that the Operation Sandwood report will recommend criminal charges against police, forensic scientists and lawyers for evidence tampering and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Assistant Chief Constable Kate Thomson, in Scotland, must be the most crucial witness in the new Lockerbie PanAm 103, investigation, "Operation Sandwood".Sorry, rest of text in German language:

Lord Suterland: Q > Thank you, Mr. Bollier. That's all.Zeuge Edwin Bollier:A > My Lord, may I put a question? Am I allowed to do that?Lord Suterland:Q > I think not, Mr. Bollier. Your evidence is now over, and that is all we can hear.

8.173 For the reasons stated above, the Commission does not believe that any of the matters raised by Mr Bollier are evidence of a possible miscarriage of justice in the applicant’s case. Overall conclusion in relation to PT/35(b)

8.174 In conclusion, the Commission has examined for itself all aspects of the chapter of evidence relating to PT/35(b), and has considered in detail the various allegations raised about the fragment. Even when these matters are considered cumulatively, the Commission does not believe that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred in this connection. by Edwin Bollier, MEBO AG pls. visite the webpage: www.lockerbie.ch

Translate

Blog Archive

Contributors

VISITS

The hit counter that I have been using has given up the ghost. From now on, I shall periodically disclose here the total number of pageviews from July 2010, as provided by blogspot/blogger. As at 09.00 GMT on 08 Febuary 2018, the pageviews numbered 1,700,288.

unique visitors since 2200 on 13 Nov 09

Comments

Readers are invited to comment on blog posts. All comments require to be pre-moderated by me, and I shall reject all (a) that are not related to the Lockerbie disaster or (b) that fail to meet my -- perhaps idiosyncratic -- standards of courtesy towards other contributors. Comments will not be rejected simply because I disagree with them or because I, or other contributors, find them irritating. But comments will be rejected if they distort or misrepresent the evidence; are defamatory; or if they risk embroiling me, as publisher, in defamation proceedings. I am perfectly relaxed about being sued in respect of material which I personally have posted -- but not in respect of material that others wish to post as comments and which, in any case, I often strongly disagree with.

Particularly during my sojourns in South Africa, it may not be possible for me to perform the moderation function speedily. I regret the necessity of moderation but it has been rendered inevitable by the behaviour of a particular commentator whose contributions will always and without exception be rejected.

No correspondence will be entered into regarding moderation decisions.

Contact me

If you have news or views about the Lockerbie case, you can contact me at rblackqc@outlook.com